Barrister of the month: David Messling

Name: David Messling

Role: Barrister and Member of the Pupillage Committee

Specialist in (areas of law): Public law, police law, public inquiries, inquests, information law, professional misconduct

Based mainly: In the West Midlands, when not in Court or in Chambers

Called to the Bar in: 2017

Joined 5 Essex Chambers: 2018 as a pupil

When did you decide to become a barrister?

A combination of a desire for justice and the need for gainful employment! I went to university to study History and Economics, with no real thoughts of becoming a lawyer. I got involved in student politics and spent a year after graduation as an elected student union sabbatical officer. As well as arguing about rents and organising the occasional protest, that meant regularly representing individual students in disciplinary hearings. I enjoyed the challenge of the advocacy and the sense that, in a world full of seemingly intractable problems, my words could make a tangible difference (even when we lost).

A career as a professional advocate was thereafter a tremendously exciting prospect, particularly one with the opportunity to work on cases of wider public importance.

What are your career highlights?

Earning Platinum Membership for Avanti Trains? Discovering on arrival at a torrentially rainy magistrates’ court during lockdown on my 30^th birthday that my shoe was fatally holed below the waterline?

On a more serious note, being part of a brilliant inquiry counsel team in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was a very rewarding experience. Another highlight was appearing earlier this year in the Court of Appeal and having the chance to address the Lady Chief Justice.

Tell us about a sliding door moment when your career could have gone in an entirely different direction?

I’ve always been a keen singer, having been a choral scholar and fronted a funk and soul band. As the parent of a toddler my current repertoire is rather more nursery-rhyme heavy. There has as yet been limited judicial demand for me to sing my submissions.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to do the job you do?

A decent knowledge of train ticketing and a long laptop power cable are invaluable! The work brings you into contact with the best and worst of human nature, but it is always interesting, always varied and always matters.

What is your most vivid memory of being a trainee/pupil?

One of my earlier cases in second six involved reviewing seized material to see if anything was legally privileged.  The investigation related to alleged theft of antiquities from archaeological sites. The first item to emerge out of the bag of documents was a Byzantine gold solidus coin issued by the Emperor Heraclius. (It wasn’t legally privileged).

What others say of David

Chambers UK 

2025 “David is very quick-minded, straightforward and thorough. A real safe pair of hands with flair.”

“David is a very capable advocate whose legal arguments are always clearly set out and easy to follow.”

“David is great to work with and picks up the key issues quickly. His drafting is excellent.”